Author: George Malik

The Detroit Red Wings struggled en route to a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, and the Red Wings will have to get right back at ‘er on Friday as the Wings visit the high-octane Colorado Avalanche (9 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/Altitude/97.1 FM).

Thursday’s game was a strange one: the Red Wings actually out-shot St. Louis 31-26, out-attempted St. Louis 51-48, and the Wings were monsters in the faceoff circle, going 27-and-16…

But the shots don’t matter if the goaltender sees them all, and the faceoff wins don’t count in the long term if you ultimately lose possession early and often in the neutral zone.

So the 13-11-and-3 Red Wings fell to an ugly 4-8-and-1 away from Little Caesars Arena this season, and with 5 road games and 4 home games remaining in this month’s schedule, the Wings are going to earn ample practice time at righting their “biggest wrong” in their road record by the time 2021 is over.

On Thursday night, the Wings served as the foil for a St. Louis Blues team decimated by COVID protocols, injuries and the salary cap, playing with 17 skaters and an ECHL-starting netminder so it would be appropriate that a Welsh-born, Australian-raised forward would score the hat trick that made all the difference for the shorthanded Blues.

As In the Slot’s Louie Korac noted, it was Nathan Walker’s night on Thursday in St. Louis:

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to rebound from Tuesday’s disappointing loss to Nashville by taking advantage of a severely shorthanded St. Louis Blues team.

Perhaps not-so-bafflingly given the Red Wings’ struggles vs. Nashville on Tuesday, the Red Wings laid an egg on Thursday, losing 6-2 to Nathan Walker (who scored a hat trick) and a 17-skater Blues team. Robby Fabbri scored both of Detroit’s goals, and Alex Nedeljkovic was pulled after 2 periods and 3 goals against on 18 St. Louis shots faced.

The Red Wings actually out-shot St. Louis 31-26 and out-attempted the Blues 61-48, but Danny DeKeyser and Dan Renouf were -3 on a team that finished -21 overall, which means that the Wings gave up the vast majority of their goals against at even strength.

The Wings are horrible on the road, technically speaking, and they’ll have to re-set in a big way ahead of tomorrow night’s game vs. a very good Avalanche team.

This is a very enlightening two-minute viewing:

There’s a method to the madness, as @DetroitRedWings rookie forward Lucas Raymond explains to @iamtrevort. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/4wz2VNpJbb— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 10, 2021

Update: Here’s the full interview in YouTube format:

Hey, everybody, thanks for the kind words and thoughts.

I’m dealing with some sort of non-COVID infection right now, and the last 24 hours have been absolutely miserable in terms of the level of physical pain I’ve been going through. I’d describe the pain I’m going through as almost post-surgical in its intensity, and it’s from head to toe, so I’m really in a lot of physical pain.

I’m trying to take today to rest and hope to be back for tomorrow’s game day activities. Right now I’m just “out of it” and am pretty much unable to function. Here’s hoping that a day makes a big difference, because I really despise not being able to work right now.

I’ve been feeling particularly ill over the past 24 hours. I’m going to have to skip the morning skate today and hope to return by game time tonight. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Per the AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Luke Witkowski has been suspended for two (2) games as a consequence of a charging incident in a game vs. Rockford on Dec. 4.

Witkowski will miss Grand Rapids’ games tonight (Dec. 6) at Cleveland and Friday (Dec. 10) at Manitoba.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a column which discusses the status of Marc Staal, who’s been placed under the NHL’s COVID protocol…

Coach Jeff Blashill said it is “yet to be determined” how long Marc Staal will be out. The Red Wings take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday’s home game against Nashville.

“We are all kind of crossing our fingers and hoping that nobody else tests positive,” Blashill said. “But we will see.”

Both the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders ended up with so many COVID-19 cases recently  that the NHL had to postpone some games.

“I would say we are under enhanced measures, some of which are spelled out in the agreement as we moved into the season.” Blashill said.

And Allen took note of Blashill’s remarks regarding Gustav Lindstrom, who has a lower-body injury, as well as Lindstrom’s would-be replacement in Dan Renouf:

“The last game Danny [Renouf] played for us he played really good,” Blashill said. “The depth throughout your organization becomes critical. It gets tested throughout the season. Certainly with Covid, it gets tested even further.”

The Red Wings continued to play well, even after Dekeyser and Bertuzzi test positive. “When Bert got it, I was a little bit  worried because it was right before a game,” Blashill said. “Does that deflate you a little bit when you get that kind of news right before a game? I thought our guys reacted well to it. So far we have reacted well to it.”

Continued

The Red Wings practiced on Monday at Little Caesars Arena’s Belfor Training Center ahead of a three-games-in-four-nights slate, starting with tomorrow’s home game vs. Nashville (7 PM EST start on ESPN+/hulu/97.1 FM).

MLive’s Ansar Khan reported that Danny DeKeyser and Dan Renouf slotted back into the Wings’ defense because Gustav Lindstrom (lower-body) and Marc Staal (COVID protocol) remain out. Tyler Bertuzzi (also in COVID protocol) isn’t back yet, either, and he’s got 4 more games to go before he can return.

After practice, the Red Wings’ coach spoke with the media:

Gus Lindstrom didn’t practice today (lower body) and Coach Blashill says he doesn’t anticipate he’ll be available for the game tomorrow #LGRW— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) December 6, 2021

Blashill said Lindstrom (injury) and Staal (COVID protocol) out tomorrow, status beyond that to be determined. #RedWings— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 6, 2021

Coach Blashill’s discussion with the media is available on video…

As is Danny DeKeyser’s availability:

Of Red Wings-related note from Monday’s practice, ahead of tomorrow’s game vs. the Nashville Predators (7 PM EST start on ESPN+/hulu/97.1 FM):

#RedWings practicing. Lindstrom, injured on Saturday, and Staal are not skating. Renouf recalled from ⁦@griffinshockey⁩ is out there. pic.twitter.com/ni2sSNiZwO— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 6, 2021

#RedWings lines in practice before Tuesday’s game vs. Nashville at ⁦@LCArena_Detroit⁩
Fabbri-Larkin-Raymond
Veleno-Suter-Zadina
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Smith-Rowney-Gagner
DeKeyser-Seider
Leddy-Hronek
Renouf-Oesterle pic.twitter.com/MOAt9U7Btl— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 6, 2021

#RedWings power play units:
1. Fabbri (net front), Suter (bumper), Larkin-Raymond (flanks), Seider (point).
2. Rasmussen (net front), Erne (bumper), Hronek-Zadina (flanks), Leddy (point). pic.twitter.com/pIybTXD4I4— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 6, 2021

FYI from Grand Rapids:

UPDATE: The Red Wings on Monday recalled defenseman Dan Renouf and reassigned blueliner Seth Barton to GR. In addition, the Red Wings reassigned goaltender Kaden Fulcher to Toledo (ECHL) and netminder Victor Brattstrom to GR.

Details >> https://t.co/Kjl1LlDj0S pic.twitter.com/PlwyKNtyde— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) December 6, 2021